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Chapter 1

Hailey's POV

I stood in a discreet corner watching Paxton and his friends practice at the basketball court.

I always wondered why they still enjoyed playing basketball even though we are no longer in high school.

Everyone else has gone home but this has been my daily routine for the longest time.

I had my eyes fixed only on Paxton, I wasn't seeing anyone else. 

Paxton could be described in one sentence and that is as the hottest guy in school.

 He is my long-time crush, I know it's not a wise decision to crush on someone like him because every other girl in the school was crushing on him as well.

There's a high possibility that he might never notice me but that's not a problem to me, I'm okay with crushing from a distance.

Suddenly, their ball flew in my direction and fell right in front of me.

Oh no!

I made to turn around and run away but unfortunately, they had already seen me.

Paxton was staring blankly at me.

Damn! What do I do? 

I slowly squatted down and picked up the ball.

One of his friends made to rush towards me but Paxton stopped him, he approached me instead.

I felt my body tense up as I watched him walk towards me.

Oh no! What do I do now? I am running out of idea and I badly need one at this moment.

Maybe I should drop the ball and run away.

I have never spoken to him before, what am I going to say to him now?

Then, it suddenly struck me, I do not even need to say anything to him, I'll just hand over the ball to him and that's the end of it.

He got to where I stood and stretched out his hands.

I quickly handed him the ball and surprisingly, he flashed me a small smile.

Hold on! Did that just happen? Did Almighty Paxton just smile at me?

"Everyone else has gone home, what are you doing here? It's getting late," he said.

It's not getting late, it's late already.

And why is he speaking to me? why does he sound worried? He has the ball, Shouldn't he be running back to his guys?

"Hey, you can hear me right? I'm talking to you," his voice snapped me out of my trance.

"Oh...uhm... I'm..." I suddenly forgot the alphabet to form a sentence with.

For goodness sake, where are my brains when I need them?

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Hailey," I replied.

At Least, I couldn't possibly forget my name.

"Hailey, it's late, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I... Uhm... I like watching you guys play," I stuttered.

Okay now, why was I stuttering?

Surprisingly, he smiled again.

Today has got to be the best day of my life because what???

I'm standing a few feet away from Paxton, my long-time crush, breathing the same air as him, speaking to him.

And the biggest highlight, he smiled at me.

Who would have thought?

"Do you have any means of getting home? It's late and it's not safe," he said.

"Of course, I'll find my way home, that's not a problem," I replied and turned around to leave.

"Hey, we are actually done playing, I could drop you off," he said.

I instantly halted on my spot and turned back towards him.

I was practically screaming in my head out of excitement.

He wants to drop me off with his car? How did we get here?

"You... You will do that?" I stuttered.

It was taking everything in me not to scream out right now.

"Well, you are out late because of us, it's the least I could do," he replied.

A wide smile broke out on my face, may all my days be as fruitful as today.

"Alright, you wait right here okay? I'll just go say bye to my guys," he said and ran back to the pitch.

I watched with a big smile on my face as he bade his guys goodbye and walked back toward me.

"C'mon," he said leading the way to his car and I followed behind.

**

"So you like watching us play huh? Does that mean you come around often?" He asked as he drove me home.

"Often?" I chuckled. "I come around every single day." 

"But how come I've never seen you?" He said.

"I'm always extra careful to avoid being caught by you guys, your ball just decided to expose me today," I joked and he laughed.

"Well, maybe my ball wanted me to meet you today," he muttered and I turned away from him, I didn't want him to see my burning cheeks.

I was blushing uncontrollably.

“Well, I’m having a party this weekend for my birthday. You should come,” he said casually, as if he didn’t just drop the most life-changing offer.

Wait, what?

“Me?” I stammered.

“Yeah, you,” he smirked, tossing the ball back to his friends. “It’s at my place. Saturday night. Be there.”

He gave me one last smile before driving faster.  My heart was pounding in my chest. Did Paxton just invite me to his party? *Paxton*, the guy every girl on campus dreamed about?

As soon as I got back to my dorm, I burst through the door, barely able to contain my excitement. “Paxton invited me to his birthday party!” I squealed, as my roommates stared at me in disbelief.

“The Paxton?!” one of my roommates asked, her jaw dropping.

I nodded, grinning like an idiot. “Yes! I’m going to his party tomorrow!”

“Ahh girl, you're so lucky!” Jenny said and I smiled excitedly.

**

The next day, I spent hours getting ready, wanting everything to be perfect. I could barely contain my excitement as I stood outside, waiting for Paxton to pick me up. My heart fluttered when his car pulled up, and he stepped out, walking over to open the door for me.

“Ready?” he asked with a smirk.

I nodded and climbed into the car, feeling like I was in a dream. The drive to the party felt surreal. When we arrived, Paxton opened the door for me again, and I stepped out, feeling like all eyes were on me.

As we walked into the hall, the music thumped through the air, and people turned to look. Whispers spread across the room as everyone stared at us, at *me* with Paxton, the famous most handsome playboy, by my side. I could feel the eyes of every girl in the room on me, some curious, others envious.

“So Hailey, what should I offer you? Beer or soft drink?” Paxton asked as we sat on the high table.

“Just a soft drink.” I smiled.

I was floating on cloud nine until everything came crashing down.

Out of nowhere, I felt something cold and wet splash across my face. I gasped, reaching up to wipe my face, only to realize someone had poured juice all over me.

I turned to see who it was, and my heart sank.

Standing in front of me was Dimitri, the one my pack had betrothed me to, staring at me with a cold, hard gaze. My Mate.